You'll Always Be My Champion
by RougePanda
Summary: Just a little Originalshipping one shot (:


Six months. It had been six long months since I had last seen Red. Before then, I traveled up to Mt. Silver at least once a month to make sure that my mute friend was still alive. I would usually take supplies up to him and stay a few days, but my last visit was different. I had tried to force Red to come down from his mountain. The Pokemon Master hadn't been looking to well. I figured that the mountain had finally began taking its toll on him.

Stubborn him, though, refused no matter how much I pleaded. That idiot was going to freeze to death and he couldn't have gave less of a damn. I reacted badly, of course. I said some things I shouldn't have. Even now, I was still appalled at the way I had reacted.

I stood just outside of Red's cave, too angry to care about the violent snowstorm that was pounding against me. Red stood inside of the cave, with his haunted red eyes hidden under the bill of his hat and his calm, silent demeanor ever present. The way nothing ever seemed to effect him just made me madder.

"Red, please! You can't survive like this forever! Sooner or later, you're going to have to come down!" I shouted over the howling wind.

He merely shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. I gritted my teeth, forcing myself not to hit Red over the head with a rock and drag him down this damned mountain.

"Why not? There's nothing for you up here!"

Again, he merely shook his head, this time raising his palms upward as if to ask what he could possibly have away from this mountain.

"What, you think that you don't have anything down there? You clueless idiot! You have people who love and care about you! Your mom, Gramps, Leaf, and. . . A-and me! I freakin' love you, Red!" I shouted without thinking.

Mother nature apparently hates me, because the wind chose that moment to die down and an awkward, shocked silence was left between Red and I. I didn't know how shocked or disgusted Red was since his hat and bangs obscured most of his face from my view and for once, I was glad. I didn't even want to know what he thought about my stupid outburst. My face heated up and I was extremely tempted to slap myself.

Taking a deep voice to keep my voice steady, I growled, "You know what? Stay up here and die, for all I care. I won't be coming back." with that said, I ran and didn't stop until I was back at my gym.

The first month after I had ran away from Red, I was determined to keep good on my promise. I didn't go visit him and I took my frustration out by crushing any trainer who came to challenge me.

The second month, I forgot. I went and bought supplies to take to Red and when I got to the base of Mt. Silver, I suddenly remembered. Cursing myself for almost making an even bigger fool of myself, I threw all of the stuff away and stormed back home.

The third month, I was just too embarrassed to go back up there. I wanted to check on him, but what do you say to a guy you confessed your love to? 'Oh, forget about the love thing. Just take this supplies and don't die.' No, I couldn't do it.

The fourth month, I threw myself into my work. I worked all day and all night. Anything to keep my mind from wandering to him.

The fifth month, I was too sick. After overworking myself, my weakened immune system caught a nasty little virus that left me bedridden for weeks. I wasn't able to go anywhere at all.

Now, I was too afraid of what I would find if I did go. Six months without any fresh food or new clothes or warm blankets? Red could be. . . No. Red was strong. He would be fine.

"Damn it, Green. You're so stupid." I sighed to myself, frowning.

Riiiing! Riiiing! I grabbed my phone and flipped it open, sticking it between my shoulder and my ear as I rifled through the cabinets in my kitchen. "What do you want, Leaf?" I asked more harshly than I had intended to.

She wasn't even fazed by my unfriendly tone. "Red lost!"

"What!?" I nearly dropped my phone in shock.

"Yeah!" she sounded as shocked as I did, "Some guy over here in Johto named Gold beat him! It was all over the news. You didn't see it? . . . Green? Green?"

My phone clattered to the ground. The unbeatable Red. . . lost? I didn't even care about how humiliated I still was about the last time I saw him. I didn't care that I promised to never go back. I had to make sure he was OK. Quickly, I grabbed an extra jacket and headed straight to Mt. Silver without even bothering to tell anyone where I was going. They'd figure it out.

When I finally reached the peak, I hesitated. What if he. . .? Shaking my thoughts away, I barged into his cave. None of his Pokemon were in sight, although I did see six pokeballs lying in the middle of the cave. Red's trademark hat was lying on the ground a few feet away from them. Red's pokeballs. . .Red's hat. . . Now where was the owner of these things? I feared the worse and my heart constricted. A weak cough brought my attention to a dim corner of the cave. The former Pokemon Master was curled up in a ball. His black hair was a complete mess and his namesake red eyes were wide in shock and confusion. When he saw me standing there, a sad but somehow relieved smile pulled onto his face. I ran over to him and fell to my knees, wrapping my arms around him.

The strong trainer I once knew was gone at the moment, replaced with a pale, shaking boy. His skin was like ice and I could feel his ribs through the fabric of the torn, short sleeved shirt he wore. Why had I been so stupid? I slipped the thick hoodie I had brought over his head and buried my face in his chilly neck, trying to warm him and show him that I was sorry all at once. Suddenly, he burst out laughing. It was a hollow, borderline insane sound that almost scared me. I pulled back to look into his face and he just gave me another sad smile.

"I lost." he said grimly, but there was an undertone of relief in his voice. It was the first words I had ever heard him speak. His voice was deep, but hoarse and scratchy from disuse.

I nodded, trying not to seem shocked that he had spoken. "I know," biting my lip, I added, "I'm sorry."

Red shook his head, "Don't be. I'm actually. . . glad that I lost."

"No, I mean that I'm sorry for what I said that day," I muttered, "Wait. You're glad that you lost?!"

He completely ignored my question and his gaze flicked downward, not meeting my eyes. "Don't be sorry for that, either." his gaze moved back up and burned into mine. "Although, I'm pissed that you just ran off like that. I was going to tell you that I l-love you too." he said the last sentence quickly and buried his face in my chest.

For the first time in months, a grin broke out on my face. I pulled Red closer and tighted my grip around him. Chuckling softly, I pecked him on his cheek. He didn't know how relieved I was to hear him say that.

"I'm not the champion anymore." he mumbled.

"You'll always be mine." I replied with a soft smile.

**Author's Note:  
****I love Originalshipping~ 3 This was actually the first fanfiction I've ever written, so even though it's not the best, I decided to publish it since it's important to me. (: **


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